James McArdle
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James John McArdle (born 3 April 1989) is a Scottish actor. He won the Ian Charleson Award for his role as Mikhail Platonov in '' Platonov'' and was nominated for an Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying Louis Ironson in ''
Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a 1991 American two-part Play (theatre), play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The two parts of the play, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', may be presented separate ...
''.


Early life

McArdle was born in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, growing up in the city's Darnley neighbourhoodScots actor James McArdle tells how roughing it in London slum helped him with role as King James I in new stage show
Daily Record, 18 May 2014
and attending
St Ninian's High School, Giffnock St Ninian's High School is a six-year co-educational Roman Catholic state high school in Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, Scotland. The school, which opened in 1984, serves Giffnock, Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, Clarkston, Thornliebank, Newton Mear ...
.'I won’t let a bunch of posh boys stop me': Angels In America co-star James McArdle on theatrical class war, the trouble with 'gay plays' and why he owes it all to his Glasgow granny
The Herald, 16 July 2017
As a child he attended PACE Theatre Company in nearby Paisley. Having worked as a child actor in films, at 17 he made the decision to travel by bus to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
to train as a professional without informing his parents; he was accepted to
RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...
after initially fluffing his audition lines but managing to return and impress the selectors. He left the course towards its end in 2010, and in the same year he appeared in ''
Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
'' at The Globe and starred in the summer smash hit '' Spur of the Moment'' by Anya Reiss at the
Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...
in London. He was also well received in his role in '' A Month in the Country'' by
Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...
at the
Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Mart ...
.


Career

In 2011, McArdle played the role of Agathon in '' Emperor and Galilean'' by
Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...
at the National Theatre. He was also
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
in the 2011 RSC production of ''The Legend'', adapted by
Ella Hickson Ella Hickson (born 1985) is a British playwright and theatrical director, living in London. Early life Hickson was brought up in Guildford in Surrey and educated at Guildford High School from 1996 to 2003. Career Hickson's first play, ''E ...
. In 2012, he starred as
Harold Abrahams Harold Maurice Abrahams (15 December 1899 – 14 January 1978) was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''. Early life and educati ...
in ''
Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 historical drama, historical Sports film, sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Summer ...
'', Mike Bartlett's stage adaptation of the film of the same title, which opened at London's
Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. History The original ''Hampstead Theatre Clu ...
on 9 May and transferred to the West End on 23 June, running through to 5 January 2013. He portrayed King James I of Scotland in Rona Munro's ''King James I'', which was performed at the National Theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival in 2014. In 2016, McArdle won the Ian Charleson Award for his 2015 performance as Platonov in '' Platonov'' at the
Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Mart ...
In 2017, McArdle's performance as Louis Ironson in ''
Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a 1991 American two-part Play (theatre), play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The two parts of the play, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', may be presented separate ...
'' at the National Theatre Lyttleton in London earned him a nomination for the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In March 2018 he stayed with the production when it transferred to Broadway for an 18-week engagement at the Neil Simon Theatre and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play. In 2024, McArdle played the lead role in the comedy Four Mothers, an Irish-set adaptation of the Gianni Di Gregorio 2008 Italian film Mid-August Lunch, playing a gay young adult fiction writer taking care of his widowed mother. The film won the
BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 fe ...
Audience Award in 2024.


Acting credits


Theatre


Television


Film


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McArdle, James 1989 births Living people Scottish male film actors Scottish male stage actors Scottish male television actors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Theatre World Award winners Ian Charleson Award winners Male actors from Glasgow People educated at St Ninian's High School, Giffnock